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When it comes to Polish black metal, Decapitated (Along with Behemoth and Vader) is a name synonymous within the scene.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After the release of 2002s Nihility, Decapitated have returned with their fourth full-length album The Negation.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Unlike many within the death metal scene, Decapitated dont rely on corpse paint, overtly demonic imagery or ham fisted gore obsessed lyrics to get their message across. The do however deliver a brutality that rarely lets up from the beginning of the album to the end, while at the same time incorporating some progressive elements within their expansive musical delivery.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The opener The Fury clearly shows a progression in production values that far outshines their previous efforts, while musically the band have trimmed away some of the more technical aspects of the instrumentation, making way for a more straight ahead death metal delivery.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The slower paced Lying And Weak gives The Negation some nicely timed breathing space in amongst the speed dominated blast beats and bleak black powered destruction, while the technical proficiency of old Decapitated is clearly still within them in tracks such as Sensual Sickness and Long-Desired Dementia.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The instrumental track Calling is little more than a short eerie sounding guitar piece that eventually leads into the title track. Again, the brakes have been placed on the usual speed delivery, giving the band a chance to slip into a groove that simply dwells on the intensity of the riffs summoned up.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The closing track The Empty Throne is perhaps Decapitateds most experimental number within the lead guitar work and the deceptive time changes, which also marks it out as being one of the albums highlights by far.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Proving that theres more to black metal than just image and blatant blasphemous baiting, Decapitated have delivered another no-nonsense platter of extreme music that delivers with conviction and without the unnecessary extras."[/font]
Beat magazine - Justin Donnelly